CardLine’s PaymentSource quoted Henry Helgeson, CEO of a processing company called Merchant Warehouse, Inc. where he spouted the same old invalid argument that giant banks want American’s, Congress and the Federal Reserve to believe merchants will not pass on to their customers the billions in savings from the new Durbin lower debit fees.

Surprisingly, Mr. Helgeson acknowledges that his company WILL
pass on to its merchant customers the lower debit fees, even though they
are not required to. As a merchant (retail and eCommerce business owner) I am perplexed that Mr. Helgeson would risk his entire company, his merchant customers and perhaps soon-to-be former customers by taking sides with the giant banks by spouting their propaganda. MasterCard and Visa’s member banks reap nearly $62 billion dollars a year from these merchant interchange swipe fees, which were designed forty years ago to cover antiquated carbon copy analog payment network.

Unlike the electronic payment network member banks which are without real competition (MasterCard and Visa wield 80% market power), merchants will all be compelled to rebate all saved interchange fees. Merchants will not JUST lower prices, but we will hire more employees, invest in infrastructure and transparently benefit the economy rather than just the banks’ vaults. Even so, the legal argument is being clouded by the bank’s multi-million dollar advocacy campaign. The last thing Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and thousands of other banks want you to know is that the argument is not about refunding savings to consumers, but rather it is all about anticompetitive illegal price-fixing.

As a lead plaintiff, suing MasterCard, Visa and major banks in what could be the largest anti-trust litigation in our nation’s history, I have been leading the battle against them for half a decade. For news and commentary updates follow WayTooHigh.com and Twitter

The Board’s proposal would implement the debit card interchange fee and routing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Debit card interchange fees are established by payment card networks and paid by merchants to card issuers for each transaction.

The proposed new Regulation II, Debit-Card Interchange Fees and Routing, would establish standards for determining whether a debit card interchange fee received by a card issuer is reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by the issuer for the transaction. These standards would apply to issuers that, together with their affiliates, have assets of $10 billion or more. Certain government-administered payment programs and reloadable general-use prepaid cards would be exempt from the interchange fee limitations.

The Board is requesting comment on two alternative interchange fee standards that would apply to all covered issuers: one based on each issuer’s costs, with a safe harbor (initially set at 7 cents per transaction) and a cap (initially set at 12 cents per transaction); and the other a stand-alone cap (initially set at 12 cents per transaction). Under both alternatives, circumvention or evasion of the interchange fee limitations would be prohibited. The Board also is requesting comment on possible frameworks for an adjustment to the interchange fees to reflect certain issuer costs associated with fraud prevention.

If the Board adopts either of these proposed standards in the final rule, the maximum allowable interchange fee received by covered issuers for debit card transactions would be more than 70 percent lower than the 2009 average, once the new rule takes effect on July 21, 2011.

The proposed rule would also prohibit all issuers and networks from restricting the number of networks over which debit card transactions may be processed. The Board is requesting comment on two alternative approaches: one alternative would require at least two unaffiliated networks per debit card, and the other would require at least two unaffiliated networks per debit card for each type of cardholder authorization method (such as signature or PIN). Under both alternatives, the issuers and networks would be prohibited from inhibiting a merchant’s ability to direct the routing of debit card transactions over any network that the issuer enabled to process them.

According to the recently released 2010 Federal Reserve payment study, debit card use in the United States now exceeds all other forms of noncash payments and, by number of payments, represents approximately 35 percent of total noncash payments.

VISA using children, firefighters and seniors to justify fleecing small employers and consumers

WASHINGTON , May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Dennis Lane, single store 7-Eleven Franchise owner and national spokesman for the campaign to Reform Swipe Fees NOW!, released the following statement regarding VISA’s response to the U.S. Senate’s passage of sweeping financial regulatory reform.

“The credit card industry has officially hit a new low in their campaign to block financial reform. To justify fleecing small business owners like me, they are now hiding behind seniors, veterans, firefighters and even children to justify their business practices. Their unprecedented multi-million dollar lobbying having failed, they have now resorted to using human shields in a last-ditch effort to scuttle reform that will benefit millions of small businesses and their customers.”

From VISA’s statement upon passage of the Senate financial reform bill (S. 3217)

“Those who rely on prepaid cards for government disbursement, such as child support, could be particularly hard hit.”

“This could be especially devastating for those on a fixed income who rely on prepaid cards for government disbursements such as social security.”

“Each of these suggestions is ridiculous, and VISA knows it. Rather than hurt workers and families, swipe fee reform will help small businesses grow, improve wages and benefits, and lower prices for consumers. But with its lobbying efforts failed, it’s become increasingly clear that the card industry is willing to say just about anything to protect the billions they are making exploiting small business.

“We need Congress to finish what it has started. For reform to be complete, it must include interchange reform. For our economy to grow again, we cannot allow VISA and the nation’s largest financial institutions to continue siphoning away billions each year from hardworking small business owners.”

About Reform Swipe Fees NOW: Reform Swipe Fees NOW is a project by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). The project unites U.S. business owners, small and large, in a campaign for fair credit card swipe fees.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The following is a statement from Visa Inc. in response to Senate passage of S. 3217:

“We are disappointed that legislation intended to make our financial system safer and fairer for consumers includes an irresponsible and anti-consumer amendment offered by Senator Durbin. Adopted with no debate or review of facts, the amendment allows retailers’ to shift their cost for accepting debit cards onto the backs of consumers while they continue to receive the value of electronic payments — including faster check-outs, ticket lift and guaranteed payment.

“Written and backed by lobbyists representing the nation’s largest retailers, the Durbin amendment could significantly harm consumers. Consumers could have less choice, higher costs and could experience an increase in costs for checking accounts and online banking fees and reduced debit card benefits like fraud protection and rewards. Those who rely on prepaid cards for government disbursement, such as child support, could be particularly hard hit.

“For financial institutions, this amendment could force them to reduce or eliminate valuable debit and checking account services and could especially harm community banks and credit unions that depend on interchange to offer competitive banking services to firefighters, police officers, teachers, veterans, congressional staffers and other customers.

“The Durbin amendment also gives retailers the power to set arbitrary, minimum purchase requirements for consumers choosing to pay with plastic. This means that customers who want to buy a gallon of milk or loaf of bread could be forced to buy more unnecessarily if they use electronic payments at the register. This could be especially devastating for those on a fixed income who rely on prepaid cards for government disbursements such as social security.

“The Durbin amendment is not germane to the overall Financial Reform bill legislation. We hope Congress sees the amendment for what it is — an attempt by retailers to increase their profits at the expense of consumers.”

Provision Will Help Restaurateurs By Ensuring More Reasonable Costs to Processing Transactions

(Washington, D.C.) – The National Restaurant Association today praised U.S. Senate passage of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that will give restaurants and other merchants a break on some payment card-processing fees set by banks and credit card companies. The Senate voted 64 to 33 to include the proposal in the financial reform bill, which is expected to pass the Senate sometime next week.
“Interchange fees are often restaurants’ third greatest operating expense, behind labor and food costs. Merchants pay about $48 billion in interchange fees every year,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs for the Association. “We are grateful to Senator Durbin for his leadership on this important issue, and appreciate the bipartisan support for addressing the problem of interchange fee practices that provide zero transparency or negotiation with merchants.”

Interchange fees, also known as “swipe fees,” and related contractual restrictions benefit credit card companies and card-issuing banks at the expense of merchants and consumers. The amendment would authorize the Federal Reserve to issue regulations that ensure interchange fees imposed on debit card transactions are “reasonable and proportional” to the costs of processing transactions. Debit transactions come directly from consumers’ checking accounts and are not credit, yet the interchange rate on debit transactions continues to increase.

The proposal would also permit merchants to set minimum and maximum transaction levels for credit cards. As a result, retailers would be free to choose their payment methods. Under current rules, merchants that accept credit or debit cards cannot set minimum transaction levels, although they sometimes lose money on small charge or debit transactions. Additionally, the amendment would increase competition and allow businesses to offer discounts to customers who pay with cash, checks, PIN debit, etc., which carry lower rates than credit cards.

The Association has long advocated for fairer transaction fees and is a member of the Merchants Payment Coalition, a group of retailers, supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, fuel stations, on-line merchants and other businesses who are fighting against unfair credit card fees and fighting for a more competitive and transparent card system that works better for consumers and merchants alike. The coalition’s member associations collectively represent about 2.7 million stores with approximately 50 million employees. The coalition recently launched a new ad campaign to educate Congress and the public about interchange fees.

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WayTooHigh.com: The Credit Card Interchange Report, is edited by Mitch Goldstone, co-founder of California-based ScanMyPhotos.com, the international online photo preservation service.
Goldstone and co-owner, Carl Berman are also the lead plaintiffs and class representatives in a antitrust class-action litigation against Visa, MasterCard and major banks that was filed in 2005.
This informational web site was created to provide news and commentary updates only. None of the information posted on WayTooHigh.com is intended to constitute legal arguments; it reflects only the opinions of its co-editors and not of any other plaintiffs or other parties involved in the merchant antitrust litigation. The information is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or current. We make no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy or reliability of the information posted by WayTooHigh.com or at any other Web site to which this site is linked. (c) 2010